A central team on Monday began a probe into allegations that a radioactive contaminated US ship has been anchored at the Alang coast in Gujarat even as NGOs demanded a CBI probe.

The three-member team comprising an official from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Steel Ministry and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will submit its report by the end of the week. “A CPCB official from our Zonal office in Baroda is part of the team on behalf of the environment ministry. The team will submit the report by October 23,” a senior official from the ministry said.

The team has been constituted after Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh took cognisance of complaints that a radioactive contaminated ship has anchored off Alang, threatening the fragile coastal region as well as health of the workers.The team has also been asked to find the ownership of the ship, and to probe into allegations that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) had given nod for its dismantling.

Meanwhile, a coalition of NGOs, Indian Platform on Ship-breaking, which had brought to the ministry’s notice the alleged violation of environmental laws by the said ship has sought a CBI matter into the probe. Demanding the ship be sent back to the US, Gopal Krishna of Indian Platform on Ship-breaking claimed that it was an international fugitive vessel and nothing short of an enquiry by the CBI can ascertain the circumstances under which the ship entered Indian waters.

“This 682-foot ocean liner is loaded with an estimated 210 tons of toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated material and an estimated 250 tons of asbestos which is lethal for workers and the environment,” he alleged.